by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Paths of Enemies was adapted from Hatred, a novel by A. Shukov. A tiny village in Kazakstan (a Soviet republic in Central Asia) is willing to forego old agricultural ways and embrace the concept of collective farming. A handful of wealthy peasants, known as Kulaks, don't want to go along with this radical new approach and do their best to sabotage the farmers' efforts. Rather than handle the dirty work themselves, the Kulaks hire a somewhat dim-witted peasant to set fire to the crops. Instead, the peasant has a "vision" in the middle of the wheat field, and casts his lot with the farmers. It was curious indeed for a 1935 Soviet film to link communism with religious conversion!
